A scam so new, law enforcement and the BBB haven’t seen it

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WPEC) - Scammers are up to no good, using a new trick to get your hard-earned money.

Law enforcement says it's never seen this one before, and a Florida woman has a word of warning so you don’t fall victim.

This scam is so new, the Better Business Bureau also says it hasn’t seen it yet.

"I think about this immediately, where I say, 'Gosh, this is a scam. You know, this is too easy,'" said Silvia Kight, a Fort Pierce resident.

Kight is a golf instructor and spends a lot of time perfecting her game. She knows others are working on their con game. In fact, she almost fell victim when she recently answered the phone.

On the other end, a recorded message.

"We wanted to inform you that your credit card interest rates are going up. If you would like to talk to an assistant, please press 1," Kight recalled the message said.

So, she pressed 1 and a live person came on the phone.

He said he wanted to help, but needed her credit card account numbers, Social Security number, name and date of birth.

"They’re gonna raise the interest rates and I have to participate in the program in order to reduce them. That’s what he said," she explained.

If she didn’t give him the information he wanted, he threatened to close her credit card accounts.

Kight says it sounded very fishy.

"I knew it was probably a scam," Kight said.

She says she got several calls from numbers she didn’t recognize over the course of several days. The last seven digits were always the same, but each time the area code was different. She wants to warn people, especially those with financial goals for the new year, not to fall for this.

"I’m very worried about the elderly. We have a lot of snowbirds coming down," she said.

A spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau says it has not received any complaints about this scam, but warns:

Legitimate callers will leave a message. Even if a scammer does leave a message, this will give you time to think about what they’re asking for.

You should be cautious of an automated message that asks you to press 1. It’s best just to hang up.

Try signing up for nomorobo.com, which is an app that takes consumers off lists for robo-calls.